(a) In general

The Secretary shall award funds to recipients through a national competition between geographic areas based on criteria established by the Secretary.

(b) Required criteria

(1) In general

The criteria established under subsection (a) shall include—

(A) the previous performance of the recipient regarding homelessness, including performance related to funds provided under section 11372 of this title (except that recipients applying from geographic areas where no funds have been awarded under this part, or under parts C, D, E, or F of subchapter IV of this chapter, as in effect prior to May 20, 2009, shall receive full credit for performance under this subparagraph), measured by criteria that shall be announced by the Secretary, that shall take into account barriers faced by individual homeless people, and that shall include—

(i) the length of time individuals and families remain homeless;

(ii) the extent to which individuals and families who leave homelessness experience additional spells of homelessness;

(iii) the thoroughness of grantees in the geographic area in reaching homeless individuals and families;

(iv) overall reduction in the number of homeless individuals and families;

(v) jobs and income growth for homeless individuals and families;

(vi) success at reducing the number of individuals and families who become homeless;

(vii) other accomplishments by the recipient related to reducing homelessness; and

(viii) for collaborative applicants that have exercised the authority under section 11382(j) of this title to serve families with children and youth defined as homeless under other Federal statutes, success in achieving the goals and outcomes identified in subsection (b)(1)(F);

(B) the plan of the recipient, which shall describe—

(i) how the number of individuals and families who become homeless will be reduced in the community;

(ii) how the length of time that individuals and families remain homeless will be reduced;

(iii) how the recipient will collaborate with local education authorities to assist in the identification of individuals and families who become or remain homeless and are informed of their eligibility for services under part B of subchapter VI of this chapter (42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.);

(iv) the extent to which the recipient will—

(I) address the needs of all relevant subpopulations;

(II) incorporate comprehensive strategies for reducing homelessness, including the interventions referred to in section 11386b(d) of this title;

(III) set quantifiable performance measures;

(IV) set timelines for completion of specific tasks;

(V) identify specific funding sources for planned activities; and

(VI) identify an individual or body responsible for overseeing implementation of specific strategies; and

(v) whether the recipient proposes to exercise authority to use funds under section 11382(j) of this title, and if so, how the recipient will achieve the goals and outcomes identified in subsection (b)(1)(F);

(C) the methodology of the recipient used to determine the priority for funding local projects under section 11382(c)(1) of this title, including the extent to which the priority-setting process—

(i) uses periodically collected information and analysis to determine the extent to which each project has resulted in rapid return to permanent housing for those served by the project, taking into account the severity of barriers faced by the people the project serves;

(ii) considers the full range of opinions from individuals or entities with knowledge of homelessness in the geographic area or an interest in preventing or ending homelessness in the geographic area;

(iii) is based on objective criteria that have been publicly announced by the recipient; and

(iv) is open to proposals from entities that have not previously received funds under this part;

(D) the extent to which the amount of assistance to be provided under this part to the recipient will be supplemented with resources from other public and private sources, including mainstream programs identified by the Government Accountability Office in the two reports described in section 11313(a)(7) of this title;

(E) demonstrated coordination by the recipient with the other Federal, State, local, private, and other entities serving individuals and families experiencing homelessness and at risk of homelessness in the planning and operation of projects;

(F) for collaborative applicants exercising the authority under section 11382(j) of this title to serve homeless families with children and youth defined as homeless under other Federal statutes, program goals and outcomes, which shall include—

(i) preventing homelessness among the subset of such families with children and youth who are at highest risk of becoming homeless, as such term is defined for purposes of this subchapter; or

(ii) achieving independent living in permanent housing among such families with children and youth, especially those who have a history of doubled-up and other temporary housing situations or are living in a temporary housing situation due to lack of available and appropriate emergency shelter, through the provision of eligible assistance that directly contributes to achieving such results including assistance to address chronic disabilities, chronic physical health or mental health conditions, substance addiction, histories of domestic violence or childhood abuse, or multiple barriers to employment; and

(G) such other factors as the Secretary determines to be appropriate to carry out this part in an effective and efficient manner.

(2) Additional criteria

In addition to the criteria required under paragraph (1), the criteria established under paragraph (1) shall also include the need within the geographic area for homeless services, determined as follows and under the following conditions:

(A) Notice

The Secretary shall inform each collaborative applicant, at a time concurrent with the release of the notice of funding availability for the grants, of the pro rata estimated grant amount under this part for the geographic area represented by the collaborative applicant.

(B) Amount

(i) Formula

Such estimated grant amounts shall be determined by a formula, which shall be developed by the Secretary, by regulation, not later than the expiration of the 2-year period beginning upon May 20, 2009, that is based upon factors that are appropriate to allocate funds to meet the goals and objectives of this part.

(ii) Combinations or consortia

For a collaborative applicant that represents a combination or consortium of cities or counties, the estimated need amount shall be the sum of the estimated need amounts for the cities or counties represented by the collaborative applicant.

(iii) Authority of Secretary

Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Secretary shall increase the estimated need amount for a geographic area if necessary to provide 1 year of renewal funding for all expiring contracts entered into under this part for the geographic area.

(3) Homelessness counts

The Secretary shall not require that communities conduct an actual count of homeless people other than those described in paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 11302(a) of this title.

The Secretary may adjust the formula described in subsection (b)(2) as necessary—

(1) to ensure that each collaborative applicant has sufficient funding to renew all qualified projects for at least one year; and

(2) to ensure that collaborative applicants are not discouraged from replacing renewal projects with new projects that the collaborative applicant determines will better be able to meet the purposes of this chapter.